Yesterday Tomorrow

June 12th, 1942 (FRIDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Canada and Russia signed agreement in London to resume diplomatic relations. (There had been no diplomatic relations between Canada and Russia for 6 years).

Destroyer HMS Swift laid down.

Anti-Aircraft cruiser HMS Scylla commissioned.

FRANCE: Paris: A Bristol Beaufighter (T 4800) of No. 236 Squadron Coastal Command, flown by F./Lt. A. K. Gatward, hedge-hops all the way to Paris in daylight and drops a tricolore on the Champs-Élysées as gesture of defiance. It then attacks the Gestapo headquarters with cannon-fire. (22)

U-542 is laid down.

U.S.S.R.: Sevastopol: The Soviet army claims to have killed 15,000 Germans in the last three days.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: After escorting convoy AT.49 to Tobruk destroyer HMS Grove with only one screw operating runs aground near Raz Azzaz. Despite being refloated she is reduced to 8 knots and is torpedoed and sunk by U-77. There are 110 casualties and 80 survivors.

Destroyer HMS Grove sunk by U-77 north of Sollum.

NORTH AFRICA: Rommel's breakout continues. The British Guards Brigade maintains heavy pressure on the Germans. The British have lost 100 tanks. German tank losses are also severe but the Germans are better are at tank repair.

After escorting convoy AT.49 to Tobruk destroyer HMS Grove with only one screw operating runs aground near Raz Azzaz. Despite being able to refloat she is reduced to 8 knots and is torpedoed and sunk by U-77. There are 110 casualties and 80 survivors. (Alex Gordon)(108)

EGYPT: Cairo: At dawn, Twelve out of 13 B-24 Liberator bombs of the USAAF, flying from RAF Fayid, in the Suez Canal Zone, today attacked the Romanian oilfields at Ploesti, Hitler's main source of fuel. Four of the 13 land at a base in Iraq which was designated for recovery of the flight, three land at other Iraq fields, two land in Syria, and four are interned in Turkey. These aircraft, of the HALPRO detachment (the bombing detachment for the China-Burma-India Theater) under command of Colonel Harry A Halverson enroute from US to China, are the first long-range bombers to appear in the Middle East. Five squadrons of them and one squadron of Flying Fortresses form two Heavy Bombardment Groups, and their presence is indicative of the growing strength of American air power in this theatre of war. They pose a threat to targets in southern Europe, previously our of range.

CHINA: Kiangshan falls to the Japanese.

The American Volunteer Group's 1st Squadron shoots down four Nakajima Ki-27 Army Type 97 Fighter, Allied Code Name "Nate," and five unidentified twin-engine aircraft over Kweilin at 0605 hours local.

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: The 11th Air Force continues bombing operations against Kiska Island. Crews of the six Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses and one Consolidated B-24 Liberator claim damage to a cruiser and leave a destroyer burning after a near miss. The cruiser HIJMS Abukuma and four destroyers depart Japanese occupied Attu Island and reconnoitre Amchitka Island for possible airfields. Japanese flying boats fly over Atka Island and see a seaplane tender, USS Gillis, and eleven Consolidated PBY Catalinas alongside.

CANADA: HMCS Ville de Quebec arrived Halifax from builder in Quebec City.

U.S.A.: U-202 landed a saboteur team of 4 men on Long Island, USA. This was one of two such teams that landed within a week of each other on the US East Coast, the other team came aboard U-584.

Off the coast of the U.S. German submarines sink two more armed U.S. merchant vessels. A tanker bound for Portland, Maine, is sunk by U-158 in the Gulf of Mexico 20 miles (32.2 km) east of Trinity Shoals Gas Buoy while a steamship is sunk by U-159 in the Caribbean off the coast of Panama.

German submarine U-701 mines the waters off Cape Henry, Virginia.

100th Infantry Battalion (Separate) is officially activated on the Oakland (California) docks. (Gene Hanson)

Submarine USS Shad commissioned.

Minesweeper USS Pursuit launched.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: At 0612, the Dartford in Convoy ONS-100 was torpedoed and sunk by U-124 south of Cape Race. The master, 25 crewmembers and four gunners were lost. 14 crewmembers and three gunners were picked up by the British rescue ship Gothland and landed at Halifax on 17 June.

At 0854, the unescorted Hardwicke Grange was torpedoed twice by U-129 north of Puerto Rico near the Tropic of Cancer. The U-boat surfaced approximately one mile away two points of port bow and fired 26 high explosive rounds from the 105-mm deck gun. First, the navigating bridge was shelled, causing fires amidships. Then the fire was concentrated on the hull about the port bow until the vessel sank. Three crewmembers, the third engineer and two greasers, were lost on watch below. The master and 19 survivors landed at Monte Cristi, Dominican Republic after 13 days in a lifeboat. 23 survivors were picked up by the Athelprince and landed at Nuevitas, Cuba. 16 survivors landed at Môle St Nicolas, Republic of Haiti. The first officer, second engineer and 14 crewmembers were rescued by an unknown ship and landed at Jamaica. The master, Timothy McNamara, was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for bravery at sea.

At 0750, the unescorted Cities Service Toledo was torpedoed by U-158 20 miles east of the Trinity Shoal Light Buoy in the Gulf of Mexico, while she proceeded on a nonevasive course. Two torpedoes struck two seconds apart on the starboard side amidships in the #6 and #7 tanks. The tanker rapidly took a starboard list. Five minutes later two more torpedoes struck the starboard side about amidships at the #4 and #5 tanks, causing the tanker to burst into flames. The armed guards (the ship was armed with one 5in, two .50cal and two .30cal guns) stayed with the ship as long as possible and fired three rounds at a light thought to be the U-boat. The most of the eight officers, 28 crewmen and nine armed guards abandoned ship in two lifeboats, because all rafts and the two other lifeboats were destroyed. One of these lifeboats could not get clear the flames and the men had to jump in the water. The Cities Service Toledo sank about two hours after the second attack. The Norwegian motor tanker Belinda picked up the 17 men in the remaining lifeboat several hours later. Eight hours after the attack, the surviving 13 men in the water were picked up by the American steam tanker Gulfking and the Panamanian steam merchant San Antonio. All survivors landed at Burwood, Louisiana and were then sent to New Orleans, where four men were hospitalized. One officer, ten crewmen and four armed guards died.

While crossing the Bay of Biscay, U-105 was attacked by an RAAF 10 Sqn Sunderland. The boat sought shelter in El Ferrol, Spain the same day and stayed there for 16 days before leaving for her French base at Lorient where she was repaired. She sailed for the next time in late November. After crossing the Atlantic (submerged at day, surfaced at night).

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